The Campbell County High School football program has been under “major renovations” since the 2011 arrival of twin brothers Justin and Matt Price — the head coach and defensive coordinator of the Cougars, respectively.

The Campbell County High School football program has been under “major renovations” since the 2011 arrival of twin brothers Justin and Matt Price — the head coach and defensive coordinator of the Cougars, respectively. With a dozen returning starters — six on either side of the ball — and a 4.0 student in junior quarterback Ethan Jeffers (6-1, 205), Campbell County has been looking for good things to happen all season long.

Unfortunately for Oak Ridge, one of the most impressive milestones reached by the Cougars happened Friday night when they defeated the Wildcats for the first time in 28 tries … 27-14.

Campbell County won the toss and took the ball — using precision passing, mostly for short gains, to drive 80 yards in nine plays … and scoring on a 10-yard swing pass.

With the extra point, the Cougars led 7-0 at the 7:11 mark of the first quarter. Campbell County kicked off employing the short “pop-up” type kick, which freshman Tee Higgins returned to the Cougar 47, giving the Wildcats good field position to start their first possession.

Two runs netted little and, on third down, Oak Ridge’s senior QB Jaylin Henderson (6-0, 165) went deep as a Cougar safety was penalized for face guarding and drew an interference call that set up the Wildcats on the Cougar 29.

Two more runs moved Oak Ridge to the Cougar 13, where Jordan Dunbar had the ball popped loose, which led to a Campbell County recovery on its own 9.

The Cougars gained a few yards on first and second downs, and then Oak Ridge junior defensive back Ted Mitchell picked off a pass to go all the way and tie it up at 7-7 (with the extra point) at the 1:43 mark.

The second quarter saw the teams trade scores as the Cougars would score first after the Wildcats stalled at their own 46 and punted. The Cougars, taking over from that point, moved the ball into Wildcat territory, aided by a facemask call and connecting on short passes during key third-down situations.

Campbell County again took the lead 14-7 on a 9-yard run with 5:11 left in the half. The ’Cats responded with their best drive of the game; starting at their own 35 after a short kick by the Cougars, they, too, were aided by a facemask call on the Cougars and some nice running by both Dunbar and junior running back Jaleel Luster. Henderson would hit senior wide receiver Blake Goins for a 5-yard touchdown pass to tie the game — with sophomore Brandon Nickle’s extra point — at 14-14 with a minute left in the half.

The third quarter started with Oak Ridge receiving the second-half kickoff in good shape on the ’Cats own 46; but an intercepted pass stopped that drive and the Cougars were now in a good position of their own at the ’Cats 40.

Page 2 of 2 - The Oak Ridge defense countered by turning in its best series of the night — with a sack and stopping the Cougar QB short on fourth down at the ’Cats 30.

The Wildcats’ running game appeared to begin to take hold as Luster had two big gains to move the ball to the Cougar 21. Dunbar would get a nice 15-yard run to the Cougar 5 … with the last guy making the tackle to prevent the score.

Three more running plays, however, netted only one yard and left Nickle lining up to try a tough hash kick from the Cougar 10 that was wide left. Campbell County then began a drive at its own 20 that was still on the move as Q3 ended.

The fourth quarter belonged to the Cougars, as they continued pushing downfield before cashing in on a 5-yard run and taking the lead 21-14 with 10:50 left to go. It was -three-and-out for the ’Cats on the next possession, but senior Hunter Sumner’s punt backed up the Cougars to their own 15 and Oak Ridge was given yet another opportunity as Campbell County failed to convert the first down.

Oak Ridge again stalled with good field position, however Sumner boomed a big punt that was downed at the Cougar 2. Campbell County picked up a few yards with two short runs, but then hit a big pass and reached their own 28 where they set up to punt. The punt turned out to be a low-line drive kick that hit the Wildcats’ return man before bouncing forward and being recovered by the Cougars at the Oak Ridge 43 with 2:18 left.

The Cougars ran the ball — and the clock — down and on fourth and short at the Oak Ridge 20, they would rub it in a bit with a 20-yard run for the last score of the night with 6 seconds left. The extra point was wide and the final margin would be 27-14 for the first Campbell County win over Oak Ridge in the series.

Oak Ridge finished with only 210 yards — including just 23 through the air.

“They deserved to win,” Oak Ridge coach Joe Gaddis said of the Cougars. “They just played better than us.”

Oak Ridge falls to 4-2 overall and 3-1 in the district, while Campbell County improves to 5-1, 3-1 with a lone loss to Anderson County. The Wildcats now face an uphill battle to return to the playoffs, starting with the Karns Beavers who visit Oak Ridge this Friday.

The Associated Press, the Knoxville News-Sentinel and Tim Waddell contributed to this article.